Soul Patrol, You Have My Apology
It all started with what I thought was an innocent joke - "Taylor Hicks? The guy can sing, but he can't ball." Little did I know my well-intended joking jab would come back to haunt me. Yes, Hicks' fans came here in droves with several people leaving comments and several more personally e-mailing me.
Other than learning this weekend that two seven-footers can shoot way outside from the post area (Tim Duncan and David Robinson during the Shooting Stars competition to lead Team San Antonio to the win), it's that you do not, I repeat, DO NOT mess with the Soul Patrol!
However, I hope that you will allow me to give you the reason why I chose Taylor Hicks for my "jokey" comment. Obviously, in the world of sports and entertainment, there is some crossover. Or rather, attempts at crossover. As an example, I will use Deion Sanders, a player I mentioned I would rank at the top if all the participants in the Celebrity Game were to be ranked. In any case, does anyone remember, "Must Be The Money"?
Yeah... pretty bad.
In any case, when I mentioned Mr. Money and Terrell Owens, I instantly thought - "Dennis, who would be the total opposite of Primetime and T.O.? In other words, whose talent would be one that these players will never reach?" Acting... some athletes can do that. Rapping... well, there have been albums put out by Allen Iverson and Ron Artest. We all know how those forays went.
So, I was left with singing. And along with Ne-Yo, American Idol winner Taylor Hicks actually sang... well! (Full disclosure, I voted for Hicks over Katherine McPhee during the 2006 contest... just thought I should mention that.) So, in about a nanosecond, not the few sentences I just took, I instantly thought, HICKS! Yes, I will use Hicks as the polar opposite of Sanders and Owens in my attempt at humor!
So, really, Soul Patrol, I'm actually giving props to the guy. The dude can sing! And, he is obviously a great human being to take time out for a charity game and put himself out there. However, he did shoot as well as Shaquille O'Neal from the charity stripe, you gotta give me that. But, that's neither here nor there.
Soul Patrol, I apologize... let's be friends.
Photos: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
Comments
Thanks for adding those beautiful shots of Taylor to the blog. And I must apologize to you for the irrational behavior of some of his fans. They can get crazy at times. Kudos to everyone who participated in the NOLA charity project and lending their time, energy, and name to the celebrity game. Loved every minute of it. But next time, don’t give so much time to the ‘food’ - I wanna see basketball! Peace!!
Taylor’s such a great guy - sorry to hear you some negative feedback about your comments. Thanks for being so nice and great to hear you’re a fan. He gave it his all out there but the stage is his home - not the court, which I think was your point.
Dennis…….I left a comment that was really intended to show my disgust with ESPN for showing so little of the basketball game, I don’t think I was hard on you. I apologize to you if I was. The fans might be a little sensitive about TH, because we know he gives 100% to anything he does, but can’t catch a break from the press in the U.S. We saw the difference when he played in the Phillipines. Sorry for our fervor.
Sorry if you got jumped on. Despite the shooting problems he played quite a bit and played pretty well. He has heart, thats for sure. We are a little over sensitive cause he gets jumped on so much. And he really can sing!!
Hey…did not even read the article until I saw it in a google alert. Humor is a good thing. I am sure Taylor laughed. Yes, Taylor gets the shaft…and those of us that really are sick of it may overreact from time to time…however, you did a good thing in apologizing…you are a cool dude! I also agree…the food has got to go! ROFL
I’m sorry if SP members left you negative comments. I was excited to watch Taylor play last night and understood that the game was all in fun. Just an FYI there are some people that make comments pretending to be SP and they are from another fanbase trying to make us look bad. I hope this is what happened. I’m glad you’re a fan of Taylor’s too. Peace
Dennis - appreciate your follow-up column about the NBA McDonald’s charity game. Sorry you got dumped on by some readers claiming to be “fans” of Taylor Hicks. I enjoyed the game and thought Taylor did an unbelieveable job being a “team player” — after all 3 points, 6 rebounds,and 6-7 assists is pretty good for a guy whose “day job” is singing.
Thanks again for voting for Taylor and for writing a follow-up to your first column. Peace!
Sorry you got jumped on. It happens to ever writer who dares to say their true feelings.
Great follow-up column! I didn’t leave a comment the first go-round, but after hearing you say TWO times that the dude can sing - I had to give you BIG KUDOS - wooooo!
Not to worry! Taylor is a big boy & a man with a beautiful heart. He’s earned his place in the spotlight of music & shares it with all of us. Taylor’s focus is always on others & that’s one of the main reasons We Love Him! Simplicity confuses a lot of people. Check out all the charity events he participates in. That alone shows the character of this southern gentleman.
I’m certain he had a great time with this event also. We know he is a ‘genuine’ artist & oohhh ~ Those ‘Golden Vocals’! It was nice of you to come back to explain yourself.
Besides ~ he did clean a few spots from that apparently dirty floor? What a Guy! LOL
Dennis -
It was nice of you to write a second column. I doubt any SP’ers meant to jump all over you. Unfortunately, Taylor doesn’t get much positive media, and when he can’t even get a nod for doing something for charity, it seems so unfair. He’s such a good guy, and the jabs probably bounce right off him, but his fans take umbrage!
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I guess there are worse things to have as an entertainer, than passionate fans!
Sorry that we are such a sensitive bunch, but when it comes to Taylor, we kinda go crazy. I watched my first basketball game and I had a blast. I yelled, jumped up and down and ran around the room like a nut. My husband thought I had lost my mind. To be perfectly honest, Taylor sings much better than he balls, but he always does whatever he does with heart and soul. Since you voted for Taylor for AI, we will let you off the hook this time. LOL
Dennis I thought your original article was funny. Coming back with an explanatory article really nice of you, and wise. Some members of the Soul Patrol have nada regarding sense of humor.
Nice photos of the man.
No need to apologize! I only watched the celebrity game because of Taylor Hicks. Really enjoyed every second of it! Thanks for the wonderful comments!
Thanks for your kind comments here about Taylor! This was all for a good cause and the NBA Cares program is giving outstanding support to the rebuilding of New Orleans. Humor is a good thing. I’m sure Taylor took your comments in stride! You are a good friend to apologize. See him on stage…that’s his court!!
Hey Dennis
Not to worry. Humor is always a good thing. It was really great of you to write a 2nd article to explain things, but its too bad you got jumped on abit. I think it was terrific that Taylor played and had a good time and he does like to be involved with charity events. So, thanks for your apology and for being a Taylor Fan!
The funny thing is, Taylor probably laughed his butt off at your comment!
Have a great day!
Bonnie in Bama
Refreshing to see someone follow-up with an explanation for words misconstrued. SP are very sensitive about what they feel is negative press for our soulman. You are a class act, as well as having good musical taste.
Just wait til the new - all Taylor controlled - album comes out. Woooooo
We know you meant no harm. As Bonnie in Bama said, Taylor probably laughed at it. Sports is a hobby with him (and if he can help people with it, so much the better). Music is his passion. However, I would not call Deion a complete athlete. I remember his “centerfield” play for the Reds. I also remember a pop fly bouncing off his head.
Well, the joke seems pretty fine with me, and i didn’t find any offensive.
I am a member from TOSP board, all i know is most of the Soul Patrol has very good sense of humour and so does Taylor.
I don’t know about the others, but i don’t mind and so does Taylor , lol..
The soul patrol is nuts. If you write anything negative, or seemingly negative about Taylor you will over 100 comments proclaiming how great Taylor is, he is the next Elvis and if you JUST SEE HIM IN CONCERT!!! you will realize how awesome he is! This isn’t the first time they’ve done this, just look at any negative article about Taylor and you will be met with a bevy or ridiculous comments from 60 year old woman.
You fell for their mass bullying tactics, huh. Any time something negative is said about their boy, they swarm like locusts and you think there are hundreds but in this case there are only a dozen or so. I’ve never seen a journalist back down so fast after getting hit with a few barbs. I’m disappointed in you. Taylor Hicks is the butt of many jokes, and yours was just fine.
I thought your article was funny and had a good point. Compared to very good athletes such as Deon and TO , Hicks by far is not as athletic by no means. Taylor has played some I guess high school and at least in the game tried. The play wher he split the defence, went up for the basket and drew the faul was a good play.(free throws baby is key)The fans should not have attack you and you have no need to appologize American Idol fans just go overboard.
Hey Scott,
I guess I did. Hahaha. Actually, I like Taylor Hicks, not as much as basketball, obviously, but I do genuinely like the guy. And anytime I can get more viewers to the site, I definitely welcome it. However, for all of you Deion Sanders fans expecting me to apologize for bringing up “Must Be The Money,” that video was just empirically bad. You know it! I could handle Deion in Hammer’s 2L2Q video, but not his own!!!
Man, I hope the humor comes out.
D
I can’t believe you actually voted for him over McPhee. Leave your penis at the door next time you check in.
I didn’t comment on the first mention of Taylor but understood it to be in fun. We Soul Patrolers can be very defensive cause he gets slammed quite often and then there are those folks who move on and slam his fan base while they’re at it (see comment #21 for a prime example). You know we “old ladies” are very protective of friends and tend to over react when attacked. Sorry you took some heat from the quick to anger contingent, but I think you showed a lot of class with your blog today. As Taylor has said himself “Humor is a great form of flattery” (what???) and I’m sure he wasn’t bothered a bit. One thing is for sure, when he’s mentioned, you get a lot of hits - good and bad.
Dennis–
I wish I could make a joke for you, but this is just an FYI
There are no mass bullying tactics, Scott and a couple others are well-known Taylor haters that go by different names and travel anywhere on the internet where they see the Hicks name and make nasty remarks about either him or his fans. Mostly his fans. Yes, I know its extremely hard to believe that anyone would spend there life that way but they do. At least their numbers are dwindling. They are attempting to turn your very good little sports blog into another battle scene. I do NOT want to respond to them but I thought you should know. You were very nice to Taylor, he is really good isn’t he and he is also very funny.
I was surprised Taylor played as well as he did. I thought he was invited because he looked pretty running up and down the court. LOL.
nice pictures
and yea Taylor can take a joke, and I think its nice you told everyone your a fan 
SOUL PATROL! WOOOO
I only watched the game because Taylor Hicks was playing in it, lol. I’ve also Tivo’d a Nascar race and a football game. Thirty years on earth and it took this guy to get me to a sports channel. I love it. Thanks for the article!! I’ve bookmarked this page, I’ll be back.
My eyes made a bullseye to Taylor and stayed on him the whole game. He was SO CUTE in that outfit! And that little dance as he was introduced? Gah, how can anyone not love him? Hope they invite him back next year!!
I missed the first article, but it doesn’t sound like it was too bad anyway.LOL You sound like a great guy and I’ll have to check out your blog more often. Thanks for the positive words about Taylor.
I am a Taylor fan and completely understand why you joked the way you did. We are not all mad. Glad you agree Taylor can sing!!
Taylor Hicks played as well as any of the others. I thought if funny he spent more time on the floor that standing on it. He played his heart out and we will always love him for just being Taylor Hicks. He is a great singer and a great sportsman.
Now I’m going to have all the McPhans and KatPack members e-mail bomb you since you think Taylor sings better that Katharine! Not to worry, Katharine fans are much more rational…
I read your original article and the little dig on Taylor, but blew it off as I’m used to it and so is Taylor. He takes a joke way better than some of his fans. I too think Taylor can sing and he always brings a little excitement/controversy (like this) to whatever he does. I would have used his name too if I were you.
I didn’t see the first article, but please know that most SP’ers are intelligent, kind-hearted human beings! What someone else said earlier is true. There are fans of others from the same season as Taylor who often post as if they are SP, but in actuality, can’t stand Taylor or his fans!
Thanks for voting for Taylor!
You people don’t seem to understand that you make him look bad by attacking journalists. What is wrong with you? He doesn’t want you to do this, if he did he would say please go out and protect me in this big bad world. Taylor need to tell you weirdos to back off it’s just such a turn off.
Matt, I went back and read the original blog and comments. I didn’t see anyone attacking Dennis. Maybe you need to chill out alittle.
Taylor is becoming more and more concerned about how badly these few fanatics are behaving. The general public doesn’t see the rational fans, just the crazy ones who post all over the Internet and attack anyone who isn’t in love with Taylor like they are. Taylor is going to have to do something about this situation before his next CD comes out. He just doesn’t know how to handle this. If they ruin his chances once again, it will really be too bad.
Rjharris, people emailed Dennis. That is just WRONG.
Dennis, I took the story in fun…just s you meant it to be. I am a proud Soul Patrol member. I have seen Taylor in concert, Met him briefly and I am just looking forward to his next album. All I want or need is more Taylor music. As someone mentioned above, there are some fans, whether they be Taylors or from other fan bases that jumps on any Taylor talk and try to turn it into a negative. However, I do know first hand that this is NOT the case of most of his fans. MOST of us are in it for the music…..Just the music. And the SOUL.
Just want to say thanks for your kind words about Taylor.
Don’t put us all down in the same group of fans for emailing Dennis because not all of us went after his throat. I thanked him for saying he could sing first off. Pointed out how well a white, blues boy I thought really did in defending, rebounding, drawing a couple of fouls, and some sites where he could enjoy some of his earlier music so don’t lump us all into crazy fans who really let him have it. We actually had a couple of nice exchanges of e-mails from 2 people who enjoy sports and music.
Dennis, I think that you are an unusual jounalist. You are also the better for trying to make ammends even though you probably had no bad intentions. Humor is a good thing. I agree with several of the poster above about the trouble makers, like #21,22…etc. They spend all of their time talking about the Soul Patrol and Fans when in reality, they are obsessed with them. Why are they even here commenting? Because they are stalkers of Taylors. Another poster said that they will try to turn this message board into another hate site for Taylor. This was exactly right. Please do not allow this. Deletion is a good thing if someone is offending others. You proved that and because of it, you are going to get more fans than you ever expected. We are a powerful number.
Each time I hear a new story about Taylor, I find out more about how wonderful he is. I always loved his music, but his soul has so much more to offer.
There is a part of the Soul Patrol that are complete loons. They spam every blog and site that dos not give total blind devotion to Taylor. They have hurt Taylor’s populariy anongst the masses and driven away new and many old fans.
Since this is still going, and at least some people admit that a few spoil it for everyone, let’s be honest and say that every celeb has fans like this. I remember many months back, when Daughtrys drummer asked their fans to lay off Taylor. (Yes, and vice versa.) Clay Aikens’ site was shut down for a period because of in fighting. Isn’t that they way though……….a few always cause trouble for the many. On the other hand, MOST fans don’t get on the internet, nor get alerts, so don’t even know all of this is going on.
Dennis, I am sure there are sports fans just as crazy.
Katie… ever hear of European futbol (soccer) fans? Now THOSE fans are CRAZY!!!
Thanks for your apology concerning your remarks about Taylor, and it is accepted. I am glad you are a fan of his true talent and hope you will mention that from time to time along with your jokes. You are right about not messing w/ the Soul Patrol. We are devoted heart and soul to him. Hats off to you for sending this message. Thank!
Judy
Dennis - I’m sure all Soul Patrolers would like to thank you for your appology, and for putting it in print!
You sound like a really good guy, and I’m sure you have gained many new fans through this. As you can see, we are a loyal group! Sorry for anyone who may have stepped over the line. It looked like Taylor was having a blast over the weekend being at the entire event. To even be able to attend NBA JAM would be a dream come true for most NBA fans, but to play in that game with those athletes was beyond even Taylor’s wildest dreams. He has learned to use his celebrity to help other people, and that is why we love him! Now we love you too! Thanks again!
All is forgiven… Great explanation…
On behalf of all the relatively ‘normal’ Taylor fans I apologize for the behavior of some of the more fervent ones who clearly don’t get that Taylor wouldn’t care that you said he can’t “ball”.
The mans a singer.. not a basketball player.. as we all saw on Friday. He spent more time falling than shooting, and that was fine. He was having fun. What difference does it make?
Some people need to chill out. Please don’t hold his crazier fans against him. We’re not all nuts. I promise.
You called it as you saw it. I am a fanatic fan of Taylor’s singing but in terms of basketball he was only a high school star. Playing this game was probably a real thrill for him, and he was happy to exit with all limbs intact and some points to his name. In terms of entertainment (which is really what the celeb game for charity is all about) he provided lots, and got his name out there with some other stars joining together for a worthy cause. A joke by a commentator is part of this whole thing. I’m sure he could care less, and 99.9% of his fans were cool with your post and appreciate your mention of his ability to sing.
Dennis, as a true-blue SPer, I just wanted to tell you thank you- no apology was necessary- the comment was all in fun (and he DOES free-throw as well as Shaq!!) but you showed a great deal of class coming forward anyways. And don’t take everything you read as gospel- I’ve had people use my name to post nonsense on other sites- it happens. Friends!!
Hi Dennis,
Its truly a pleasure to read your article and the fact you were kind enough to apologise to Taylor’s fans. I assure you Dennis, we seem to have undesirables who follow articles like yours and hide behind the SP name when they write negative comments. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, it’s certainly appreciated by this Taylor fan!
I was proud for Taylor and his being invited to play in the NBA Celebrity game! He does love sports and his having been involved in four celebrity golf tournaments so far and a fifth coming up in May and now basketball, is an honor, I’m sure he’s enjoyed. I’m proud of his determination in the game! Wow, his assist set up that dunk. He had some important rebounds and I counted about 5 or 6 assists. Cool move inside the key, I know he wishes he could have made the free throws, but hey, that was cool and for that matter, his team won! Keep up the good work with your articles, I’ve enjoyed them! Thanks for being one of the good guys Dennis, you get my vote!